Life Where There Is None
by AJ Taylir
Summary: During the construction of Home, Bayla, an Al Bhed alchemist, reflects on life and living, even on the possibly most inhospitable island Spira has to offer. Takes place during the construction of Home, long before the game.
1. Life Where There is None

(A/N: This story was originally written to be part of a series of one-shots, based around something else entirely. But this part turned out well, while the others... Well, they may have a chance. Maybe. They're near doomed to the trash bin, while this one... I see it likely evolving from one-shot to a full fiction. I decided to only use a little Al Bhed in the story. Translations are at the bottom of the page, but I think through circumstance you should be able to somewhat grasp what they're saying. If you feel that I've missed anything, feel free to let me know.)

The sun was setting on Bikanel. The work for the day was pushing onward into the night. The grand structure that would keep all Al Bhed safe and happy was swiftly underway. The arguments with the Yevonites had reached their final, violent peak, and so the Al Bhed took to this lone island, where they could live and work in peace.

The ideal was a lofty one; one structure that could shelter all Al Bhed from the sun and sand here. It was a massive dream. It helped the people to hope. It really seemed possible, at the rate everyone worked at it.

A young Al Bhed woman, Bayla, sat on a sand dune watching the sun set over the distant shore. She'd be called on soon for the early evening shift. Alchemists like herself weren't all that good for construction, but they were handy in repelling the local fiends, thusly giving the workers peace of mind and the ability to focus on building their dream.

She turned a recording sphere over in her hands and spoke to it.

"We've been working a month now, and few people are showing signs of tiring. This 'Home' we're building keeps everyone going. That's to be it's name: Home. Not a city, not a house, simply 'Home'.

"I really believe we can do this. When we finally fled our small neighborhoods throughout Spira due to harassment and persecution over machina by the Yevonites, I thought we'd never be safe. But now, I really think we can have a home on this barren island. We're making life where there is none, and it's showing signs of thriving."

She smiled musingly.

"Upon discovering where we were headed, the Yevonites almost helped us pack. Little do they know just how well off we really are here. There is even talk that Sin avoids this place. There is no scarring from its attack, though that may just be the dunes covering them up."

A sharp whistle pierced the quiet dusk.

Bayla's elder brother Badan waved her over.

"Bayla! Lusa uh, oui'mm pa myda!"

Bayla stood up, and dusted the sand from her clothes.

"E's lusehk! Uha caluht!" She called back.

She turned back to her recording sphere one more time. The sun had set by now, darkening her face.

"Badan's really quiet about what he thinks. Some times he seems to hate the Yevonites for judging us, other times he shrugs it all off. He is one of the most passionate among us about our new home. I think it takes his mind off of what troubles him."

She turned the sphere off, tucked it in a pocket, and pelted across the sands after her brother.

Badan was taking a leisurely pace back to the site, his gun slung over his shoulder. Even so, he had a huge lead heading back to the camp. He tipped his head around as he heard Bayla's hurried footsteps kicking up sand.

"Fryd duug oui?" He inquired teasingly.

"Crid ib, Badan." Bayla replied, shoving him lightly.

They reached one of the shelters surrounding the construction site at the tail end of their patrol group.

After a few updates on progress and fiend activity, the group was paired off. Each pair included an alchemist and a gunman.

Bayla was paired with Lycao, one of her male friends, while Badan was paired with a skilled older man by the name of Nelrynt.

With their assignments, they set out.

The stars glittered proudly overhead. The cool night breeze was a welcome comfort as they held off fiends.

"Well," chuckled Lycao. "I wouldn't think fiends would bother coming here."

Bayla shrugged as she lobbed a darkness grenade at a pair of fiends. The shrapnel and the blinding gas from the explosion made them easy targets for Lycao.

He watched thoughtfully as they burst into pyreflies and dissipated. He let their ascension guide his eyes to the velvet sky.

"Huh. You can't see the stars like this, even from Besaid."

Bayla followed his gaze.

"You're right." she remarked.

They stared up in wonder at the sky for a quiet moment. Bayla's eyes were the first to come down.

"When we first came here, did you think we could survive?" She asked.

Lycao brought his gaze down from the heavens, down to meet hers. He was smiling, but his goggle-protected eyes hid a lot of pain. His father had been in the thick of the arguments with the Yevonites. True, he had fought for peace between them, but in the end, that couldn't save him from the hatred around him. It hurt Bayla almost as much as it hurt Lycao. She had grown up in his house as much as her own.

Regardless of the pain, Lycao smiled.

"I didn't doubt it. My father stood up for everyone's happiness. He'd want us to live. He's with us now, in every tool and every heart, building the cradle of our future."

There was a heavy, silent, poignant moment.

Beneath his goggles, Bayla was sure Lycao was hiding tears. Tears of frustration, sadness, hatred...

"Bayla..." Lycao said reluctantly.

"Yes?"

He flipped up his goggles. A month's worth of hidden pain pooled in his eyes.

"I miss him. It wasn't right." he said firmly.

Bayla's eyes watered at the sight.

"I miss him too."

Almost reluctantly, the two lifetime friends moved closer together, and shared a comforting embrace.

The sand nearby started running like water. Lycao and Bayla separated to look at it.

Lycao smiled grimly, and flipped his goggles down.

"I want to work out some frustration." He said simply, and charged toward the shifting sand; a surfacing giant worm.

Bayla sighed, feeling that, with that confession of his feelings, Lycao had taken a step toward coming to terms with his father's death.

Feeling better, herself, she pelted after him, pulling items out of her pockets as she ran.

Around dawn, the teams all regrouped to pass on the watch, then parted ways to go and rest.

As Badan entered the small shelter they shared, Bayla lingered outside to watch the sun start creeping over the horizon.

She pulled her journal sphere from her pocket, and set it to record.

"Another new day dawns on Bikanel, another day of hope for us all. Hope... and healing. For however many of us have lost loved ones, we carry the same number of legacies into our new Home."

Smiling at the now-gentle warmth of the sun, Bayla pocketed her sphere, then entered the shelter to sleep, and await the next night.

Translations:

Bayla! Lusa uh, oui'mm pa myda! - Bayla! Come on, you'll be late!

E's lusehk! Uha caluht! - I'm coming! One second!

Fryd duug oui? - What took you?

Crid ib, Badan. - Shut up, Badan.


	2. Something to Laugh About

(A/N: I'm fighting myself over Bayla's friend's name. Lycao just doesn't seem right to me. I'm open to any suggestions.)

The next evening, Bayla wandered to storage shelter near the building site in search of a few new supplies. She grabbed a few grenades for herself, and while she was at it, some spare ammo for Badan and Lycao. She was excited about tonight. She had found some great supplies from dispatching fiends, and had high hopes from their turnout in the night's rounds.

Once she finished restocking her supply, she glanced out at the sunset.

Waving to her friends in the construction crew, she headed out for the scouting tent.

She met Lycao and her brother there, and handed them each their ammunition.

"Okay." The security chief, Alo, started. "Same teams as last night. The day shift reported less fiend activity this time, but don't get lazy about it."

Some of the gathered Al Bhed sighed and shook their heads in amusement. Alo was an uptight man, middle-aged, and already significantly balding.

He was lucky enough not to lose family in the conflicts with Yevon, but he stressed easily.

His warnings were hardly ever taken as seriously as he gave them.

So the teams for the night shift parted, back into the shifting sands to keep there kin safe from fiend attacks.

While starting on their rounds, Lycao was chattier than he normally was.

"So, have you gotten a look at the plans? This Home we're all working for, it's going to be huge." He said.

"Yeah." Bayla replied a little distantly.

"I wonder if Bevelle will think we're a threat, and declare war on us, like Zanarkand."

Zanarkand. The machina city. Mentioned fondly in Al Bhed circles, and spit upon by Yevon. Bayla had often wished she could have seen Zanarkand. But it was destroyed before she had the chance. Two Calms had passed already since Sin's first appearance.

Yevon had called Sin punishment, and had put blame soundly on machina, as well as anyone who didn't agree with them.

Bayla had always found it a little odd, because there had been rumors that there were machina in Bevelle. But anyone who could have elaborated had been caught and silenced.

Bayla's dark, thoughtful silence was enough to give Lycao pause.

"I don't even want to think about that." Bayla said finally. "I'm putting all hope into the idea that they won't come looking for us here."

The cold dread underlining her voice was plain. Like all Al Bhed, she just prayed that they be left alone. Bayla often thought it was odd, for one to pray after being rejected by the temples. But one had to have faith in something, be it Yevon or otherwise. So she prayed anyway. Maybe fate had an ear. If so, it just might hear her.

The two friends were quiet to each other, each deep in thought, for the next few minutes. They slew a pack of fiends in numb silence. While Bayla plucked some peculiar finds from the remains of a birdlike fiend, Lycao spoke up again.

"Do you think that maybe we aren't meant to stay? That maybe this 'Home' is too big a dream?" he asked bleakly.

Bayla stood up, her new supplies loosely in hand, staring at Lycao, a baffled look on her face. There was utter silence on the moonlit dunes. He had been so optimistic about Home just minutes ago, and now this?

"Where did that come from?" she asked, her own voice cracking in her dark mystification. "Last night you tell me there's no way this can go wrong, and now you're concerned?"

Some gloomy thought had taken root in Lycao's head. Something had crossed his mind in the quiet and stuck there. Most likely connected to the Yevon incidents and his father. Lycao was staring distantly at a nearby sand dune. His goggles hid the vague look in his eye.

Bayla touched his arm, near the shoulder, bringing him out of his dismal trance.

"Lycao, _mecdah du sa_." She said gently but firmly.

She waited for his goggled eyes to meet her exposed ones before she continued. She spoke softly, but patiently, making sure he understood.

"We're _going_ to make it. Our dreams _will_ become reality. Everyone's working far too hard for this to fail. You helped me believe this. You have to move on. You have to live. For your father, for yourself. You need to let go of the pain instead of bringing it back on yourself."

There was an eternal moment. Lycao did nothing, said nothing. But he held Bayla's gaze. If she looked really hard, she could see through the goggles to the wavering look in his eyes, slowly coming to grips with reality. Finally, he heaved a great sigh of finality and relief.

"O_ui'na nekrd_." He said softly.

He brought his opposite hand up to cover Bayla's, and squeezed ita little reluctantlyagainst his upper arm.

As the two smiled softly, Bayla, having better hearing, picked up on something. A fiend approaching.

Lycao saw the thoughtful look on her face, and looked around. The biggest flying fiend he had ever seen swooped rapidly down toward them from behind Bayla. It would be upon them in mere seconds, and hit her first.

"Bayla, _tilg_!" He said loudly and quickly.

He whipped out his gun and, aiming over Bayla's shoulder the split second before she dropped, started unloading bullets. Bayla hit the sand and rolled, pulling out a small bottle of a clear liquid and a funny crystal a fiend had dropped as she did so. Springing up to the side, she tied them together and threw them as hard as she could at the approaching fiend.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion.

The path of the bottle and crystal crossed Lycao's line of fire.

One bullet went straight through the two items, right in front of the fiend.

There was an earsplitting boom like thunder, and a white flash brighter than the sun.

When Lycao and Bayla could see again, pyreflies were fizzling away where the fiend had just been.

Lycao turned to Bayla, and she turned to him. Both were speechless.

Their thunderstruck expressions soon melted into grins, and they burst out laughing.

"Whoa... What _was_ that?" Lycao asked, wide-eyed.

Bayla was giggling breathily and open-mouthed. She pushed back her hair with the palm of her hand. Her fingers were splayed against her head.

"A gem left behind by a fiend from last night, and some holy water I got from a merchant before we came here."

Lycao grinned widely, chuckling. "I don't suppose you have more of those?"

Bayla's expression dulled a little.

"Unfortunately not." She said regretfully. She smiled again. "But that's definitely one for the books!"

The rest of the night passed on a lighter note. Even on their way back to camp at the end of the shift, they were talking and chuckling about the explosion. When other people started asking about the thunder they had heard and the light they had seen, they told the story all too willingly. And the group ate it up.

The Al Bhed parted ways in lighter moods than when they had gathered. An incident like that was wonderful at breaking up the monotony. Such moments had been few and far between since arriving on Bikanel.

Badan was laughing all the way back to the tent, and praising his sister's intuitions as an Alchemist.

"You always had talent like that. You got it from mom."

Bayla smiled poignantly. She remembered her mother, just enough. She had been young when her mother passed away after being severely ill. Everyone said her father died from grief a few short years later.

She barely noticed when they finally got back to the tent.

"You'll probably want to record this in your journal, so I'll go to bed now." Badan said pleasantly. He clapped her warmly on the back. "Thanks for giving us something to laugh about, _Baddo Tasuh_, we needed it."

Bayla smiled a bit more. _Baddo Tasuh_, pretty demon, had been her parents' nickname for her as a little girl. She had been strong-willed, hot-tempered... Her parents' little demon.

She pulled her journal sphere from her pocket as she smiled at the faint purpling on the eastern edge of the velvet night sky. She recounted the night's events as the purple turned to pink, and pink to gold, just on the horizon.

As the sun peeked over Bikanel's eastern coast, Bayla put her journal sphere away and went in the tent to sleep, somehow feeling better than she had in some time.

(A/N: FFX-2 players might recognize the item combination and resultant kickass explosion as White Hole. More or less.)


	3. An Early Start

"About a week has gone by. The repetition of the shifts has actually been kind of relaxing. Lycao's been in better spirits, too. I think for the first time since we started this endeavor, just about everyone is feeling better."

Bayla rocked back against the dune she sat on, and smiled tiredly at the pinking horizon.

"It seems almost all the Al Bhed are catching their second wind at once. Myself included. It felt so good to go all out, to give it all I had. Heh, I had no idea how tired that would make me later. I hope this doesn't make me sore come tomorrow. That would just hold me back. And I want to make all I can out of this while it lasts."

She sat up, pocketing the sphere, and shuffled tiredly into the tent for a well-earned rest.

About late afternoon, she was rudely awakened by conversation. Grumbling audibly, she blearily opened an eye to see Badan, talking to someone else, who stood just outside the tent flap. Bayla waited for her eyes to adjust. It was Pelin. Pelin was their supply manager, and the wiry man had a concerned look on his face.

"...she's an alchemist, she knows plenty about materials for construction. Could you run it by her later?"

"Sure, Pelin."

"Thanks a lot, Badan."

And with that, Pelin left.

By now, Bayla was sitting up.

"Run what by me?" She asked.

"Oh, you're awake. Pelin needs your help. Well, the help of all the alchemists on the rounds, actually. We're running out of construction supplies. We won't be able to keep this pace for long."

Bayla nodded in understanding. In truth, she had only been waiting for this to happen. Their grand plot was surely more than the surface ruins could handle.

"Pelin is going to talk to Allo about sending machina out with us. Our secondary goal is to be scouting for supplies. You guys with training in alchemy will have better luck finding what we need."

Bayla nodded again, and then smiled a sibling's smirk. "Without someone like me, what would you do, shoot it?"

Badan raised an eyebrow at his sister, and shoved her head back, causing her to flop back down on her own bedroll.

Bayla got back up, gathering her gear.

"Bay, it isn't even sundown yet." Badan remarked.

"I know, but I'm feeling antsy. No harm in an early start." She said brightly, slipping her protective goggles over her head to shield her eyes from the sun.

"_Oui'mm pinh_." Badan said mockingly. "..._eh macc dryh veja sehidac_."

Bayla huffed in response to the brotherly provocation. Sunburn and heatstroke were the reasons most work went on at night. But that's what the protective clothing was for.

She wouldn't be outtalked. She ran her fingers over the material that would shield her skin from the harsh sun. Her mother had been an alchemist, and had traveled much of Spira in search of items. This had been her suit.

"_Sudran fud'h mad sa pinh_." She said a little sharply, and left the tent.

Badan's silence was all she needed as a sign of victory. Though, as she walked toward the construction site, she felt a little bad deep down for dragging their mother's memory into their little verbal sparring match. She didn't remember her parents that well, but Badan did.

Bayla found Pelin at the site.

"Ah, Bayla. You're up early." Pelin greeted.

Bayla shrugged. "Badan told me that you need some help."

Pelin's level façade visibly cracked. "Everyone's working so hard. It's wonderful, but it's eating up our supplies. There should be more scrap under the sand, if only you alchemists could dig up a cache for us to use."

Bayla smiled helpfully. "Well, that's what I'm here for, Pelin. Just give me some supplies, and I'm off."

"Are you sure? The sun's still fairly high." Pelin reminded her, a touch of concern in his features and tone.

Bayla patted the long sleeve covering her arm. "I have the best suit ever made keeping me safe."

Pelin nodded slowly. He was a little older than Badan, so he remembered their parents well. "Come on, then. Even if you bring back only a little, it will still be an improvement."

He led Bayla into the storage shelter, which was basically a large tarp on poles. It wasn't quite a tent, but it protected the tools, parts, and food from the sun and very occasional rain.

"Pelin, the idea just hit me..." Bayla said aloud. "Has anyone considered dredging the water near here for materials? Sunken ruins, ships destroyed by Sin, things like that?"

Pelin turned to face her. His expression was hard to read as he contemplated the idea. Suddenly, he laughed.

"What a brilliant idea! And no one else thought of it!" he said. "All this time we focused on the sand, when there's water all around us!"

He chuckled for a little while longer. "You're a genius, Bayla." He said with a smile. He continued gathering things up for her; drinking water, healing supplies, and machina. He activated two roving type units as he walked past them. They rolled after him quietly, and he loaded their flat tops with what he could find.

"It's too bad we haven't spotted any chocobos around here." Pelin said offhandedly. "They'd be a lot of help."

"Yeah." Bayla agreed. It was wishful thinking. There wasn't any likelihood that chocobos would be here. They were known to frequent the calm lands and the highroad, but a desert island?

"Well, there you go. Don't get yourself hurt or lost, okay? Badan will kill me if you do." Pelin added, with only a hint of humor.

"I'll be fine." Bayla assured. "I won't go too far."

"Alright." Pelin said finally, and keyed a code into the two machina. They turned around, ready to follow Bayla. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Bayla replied, and walked out of the supply tent and the encampment, into the dunes. The late afternoon sun was hot, but survivable, thanks to the suit. Almost all Al Bhed had a similar outfit. They had planned pretty well for desert life, and were adapting more and more as time went by.

As she walked through the silent, empty sand, she looked around, clueless as to where to go first. If she had a chocobo, the bird could sniff out things for her. But she had no such luck.

"Well, any ideas?" she asked the machina wryly. One of the Yevonites' claims was that such self-sufficient mechanisms could pose a threat to civilization. The Al Bhed knew better. The machina functioned by a simple list of commands and that was it. The worst that could happen would be a fried circuit causing it to either repeat past activities or randomly execute a recorded command. It had happened before in isolated cases, but was easily dealt with.

Adjusting her shaded goggles, Bayla looked as far as she could. Ruins of old structures had been spotted in groups. If she followed the pattern of the older sites, surely she could locate another one.

She estimated the distance from a few known sites, then whistled to her small convoy and walked on into the desert expanse, beneath the unrelenting sun.

Translations:

"_You'll burn_." Badan said mockingly. "..._in less than five minutes_."

"_Mother won't let me burn_." She said a little sharply, and left the tent.


End file.
